This 2024 release on Chicago's
Cedille
label is one of several issued under the "Silenced" rubric, and it is not at all clear that this works. Czech composer
Vít¿zslava Kaprálová
was silenced, not by any governmental decision or social trend, but probably by typhoid bacteria. Nevertheless, there is a commonality among the songs here that makes for a convincing program. Many of them were written early in their composers' careers, for one thing (and this also vitiates the "Silenced" concept); there is an ardent quality steeped in Romantic poetry that lacks the decadent overtones Romanticism took on in
Strauss
and
Schoenberg
, that runs through the whole. Musically, too, the pieces share many aspects of musical language. All the composers were progressives but avoided going down the path of atonality. The biggest attraction may be that there are no fewer than ten songs by
Kaprálová
, whose music is in the midst of major renaissance but who is still in need of strong, committed performances like this one. This reviewer cannot speak to the quality of tenor
Ian Koziara
's Czech language skills, but he is an excellent young singer. Up to now, he has been known for Wagnerian opera, but he scales his voice down beautifully to song dimensions, and he receives sensitive support from accompanist
Bradley Moore
. A sleeper of an album from
, which is often involved in fresh programming concepts. ~ James Manheim